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What is a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by SapphireJ, Oct 9, 2017.

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  1. SapphireJ
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    SapphireJ Dark Stone Golem

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    So, I started playing MapleLegends (ML) around June 2017 to re-live some good ol Maple Story memories and sadly, sometimes we all encounter server down times sometimes, caused by Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Whenever the server goes down due to these attacks, it causes many ML players asking everywhere on the ML Forums and Discord Server with questions such as the definition of a DDoS Attack, is it stoppable and who is doing it?

    With the overwhelming response whenever the attacks start, I decided to write a thread here to answer all of you player's questions once and for all.

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    A Denial of Service (DoS) attack, is a cyber attack which utilizes a computer, server, botnet and/or network to flood/overwhelm a targeted server or network with meaningless traffic (or otherwise, overloading it), causing it to either dip in performance (lagging) or turning it into a zombie (connection loss).

    A Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, works the same as a DoS attack, but instead utilises multiple computers, servers, botnets and/or networks to "distribute" the attack and is typically stronger.

    Today, DDoS Attacks are one of the most feared attacks in the internet, especially websites or internet services that do not have the capacity or capability to fought these attacks. DDoS Attacks today can damage a business, ruin a company or community's reputation or cause customer flare. On some occasions, you can even pay to start a DDoS Attack for as low as US$5 per hour. DDoS Attacks can last for hours, days or even weeks.

    Examples of DDoS Attacks.
    - When we all MapleLegends players while playing starts to get abnormal server or lag and server disconnects.
    - Unable to access your favorite website, even though your internet connection is perfectly fine.
    There are many DDoS Attacks circling in the internet. But, for here I will list out the most common ones that are most likely used to attack game servers like MapleLegends.

    - Network/Transport Flood (Layer 3/4)

    This attack involves flooding the network with malicious incoming traffic, to overwhelm the routers or network equipment of the target. For instance, MapleLegends may be running on a network with a speed of up to 1000 Mbps and 2 Million Packets Per Second, which is plentiful for lots of players during a normal day. This DDoS Attack can overwhelm it excessive bandwidth like 5000 Mbps and 10 Million Packets Per Second, thus saturating the network, causing all players to time out and lose connection to the MapleLegends Server.

    - Application (Layer 7)
    This attack involves overwhelming the server and/or the application(s) running the MapleLegends Server. The server can become a ghost due to overwhelming traffic that causes the CPU to reach full load, causing all players to freeze and crash.

    There are also many other attacks. But as long as the attack involves disrupting the server or network and "denying" the service, it is considered a DDoS Attack.

    Usually, when a DDoS attack happens and if your service provider has the detection tool, they will send you an Anomaly Report. Like what I've received here:
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    Here are a few videos, describing what DDoS Attacks are, should you prefer to watch videos.

    A casual way to describe a DDoS Attack is this movie clip from the movie "The Fate Of The Furious 2017", in which the Antagonist and her team hacks automated driving cars to immobilize a moving motorcade.
    In this case, the hacked Zombie cars are the botnets or hijacked PCs, while MapleLegends is the Motorcade/Target.



    Techquickie: DDoS Attacks as Fast As Possible


    Radware: What are DDoS Attacks? DDoS Explained

    1. Who is attacking and what are their reasons?
    ANS: Anyone who decides to launch or call a DDoS attack can be doing it for any reasons such as but not limiting to: Sabotage, Trolling or Halting Illegal activities.

    2. Is there DDoS Protection services and Hardware?
    ANS: Yes, but it is expensive, because DDoS Protection is mainly offered/deployed for corporate, internet servers or websites that do business. It also should be noted that even with one of the best protections, DDoS Attacks are extremely hard to win over (having a protection will still never guarantee the server being 100% protected or free from attacks, even though its better than no protection).

    3. Are DDoS Attacks illegal and can the law enforcement help to track down the attacker?
    ANS: While DDoS Attacks may or may not be legal in countries, the sad truth is, even law enforcement can not do much to help as its impossible to track the Mastermind. This is because, a DDoS Attack involves innocent, hacked PCs that the attacker use to attack the target; the attacker does not have to use his/her own PC to attack the server since he/she can just hack multiple PCs and use them to attack.


    4. Why do service providers halt the server (a.k.a Blackhole or Nullroute)?
    ANS: Whenever a server gets a DDoS Attack, the attack will not only affect the targeted server, but other users or customers on the network too unless the DDoS Attack isn't large enough to overwhelm the network. As service providers have to up keep their Service Level for good reputation, they have no choice but to Nullroute your server or other customers will begin experiencing low performance, causing them to report/complain to the service provider, even risking to leave.

    5. Are DDoS attacks the same as hacking and will the targeted website or service have their security compromised?
    ANS: No. A DDoS attack works differently than a hacker trying to break in a target to extract information via whatever means such as Brute Forcing. The primary focus of a DDoS attack is to overload the target with traffic and even if the attacker wishes to launch a hack attack as well, he/she has to somehow find a way to even get a response in the already halted target.

    So yeah, this is pretty much the information I can give and hope it will be useful for everyone here. Before I played MapleLegends, I used to host game servers for a VALVe game Team Fortress 2 and yes, battling DDoS Attacks was a headache as I got booted off 2 service providers and nearly got booted off my home internet connection (imagine that your ISP has to cut off your internet!!). I did manage to get proper DDoS protection in the end, but at the expense of me having to pay more money.

    If anyone has any questions about DDoS Attacks, feel free to reply to this thread and I will try my best to answer them. I study about these attacks in my studies too and I will be happy to answer them :)

    One thing everyone should note is, MapleLegends is hosted more as a hobby and leisure. Therefore, it isn't a business like Neckson, hosting official Maple Story game servers. It is pretty difficult to manage private game servers like this as it requires Business Level Precision and Labor, also, the server staff too, have a life to live too. So, be courteous and appreciate the ML staff for putting work in the server and not taking it for granted.

    -AlicornMagic
     
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